


Samuel "Sam" Jones

by roveron



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Discovery, Friendship, Jaeger Pilot, Jaeger Pilot Reveal, hidden identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:05:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5247632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roveron/pseuds/roveron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam Jones is nothing special, but Riley is. If only he knew it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Samuel "Sam" Jones

**Author's Note:**

> Raleigh needs more friends. Wrote this before I knew the character I made a story for is actually named Tommy, and Tommy's kind of an asshole. Therefore, Sam is better than Tommy.
> 
>  
> 
> ...I like Sam a lot better than the canon version of him.

Samuel "Sam" Jones is nothing special. He's not a businessman, he's not an athlete, he's not a movie star. He's none of the things that would have been important before the war. He's none of the things that are important during the war either. He went to school, got a degree in accounting, but here in Alaska there's no business left, and he can't leave. He has too many family ties here. His mother is here, tending to his sickly sister while his father tries to keep the family afloat. Sam thinks his best option might be working around the Jaeger Program, so he tries to get a job in the Anchorage Shatterdome, tries to get on Jaeger maintenance, tries to get on the janitorial crew, but it seems like even those positions are selective. He tries everything he can to get a job there, knowing he can't be a Ranger. He's shy, nervous and doesn't have anyone he's particularly close to save his family. He's not the brightest, though he's smart enough to get by, and not to mention he's not in the best shape either, never has been either. Short and stocky and pudgy, that's all Sam is. He's a nobody, so when the opportunity comes around he takes the one job a nobody can get around here.

Sam Jones, like many others, joins the Coastal Wall Program. It's the one job where there will never be enough workers, where they're always hiring. He jumps in early to make sure he gets a good job, not one of the ones where he could possibly die. A good job he gets too, one that's low and close to the ground. It doesn't pay much but for once he's doing something, he's helping, he's worthwhile. Sam Jones is a nobody just like everyone else working this wall, and though it's not a comforting thought in the best of times he finds some solace in the idea that he's not the only one here desperate enough to work the wall. It's a last ditch effort, and they all know it. Their hope wanes one day and waxes the next, unsteady and always mediocre, but it's the last hope any of them have.

Sam's been lucky so far. The bunks are tight and crowded, their quarters close for maximum space efficiency. As long as he's worked here Sam's been lucky not to have a roommate bunking with him. Until now, that is.

When the new guy shows up, he's like any other. He's average. He's a washed out nobody. But he's not. He's quiet, he's reserved, and he's got this dead look in his eyes, like he's seen too much. He doesn't have a thing to his name, just the clothes on his back and a few things in a bag. He doesn't need money, he just needs a place to stay and food to eat. That's fine, they tell him, you'll have to bunk though, and he tells them that's alright, he's used to it and it makes Sam wonder what the hell this guy was doing before he came here that he's used to living in such close proximity to another person. It doesn't matter though. This new guy, Riley he says his name is, but he never tells anyone his last name and by all accounts he doesn't have one, bunks with Sam.

Riley's a strange man. He's just over twenty years old when he comes to work on the wall, just about five years younger than Sam. He's tall, looks like he could be an athlete. An Alaskan native just like Sam but from Anchorage not Juno, Riley had a brother who died in a kaiju attack. That's why he's here, he says, he owes it to his brother to do something about these goddamn beasts. When Sam asks what kaiju killed his brother he doesn't answer. When Sam asks what's his brother's name, he doesn't answer. He won't say a word, like he's scared to say too much. He's mysterious in a lot more ways than just his history. He sleeps in long sleeves, he showers when nobody's around and somehow manages to snag the one stall with a door every time, and he's sensitive about his left arm. What happened to it Sam doesn't know, it's perfectly functional but Riley just can't bear it and that's another thing he won't talk about either.

It's five years before Sam learns anything about Riley, and by that point he's sure Riley knows everything about him, simply because in the absence of conversation Sam fills it with snippets from his own life, and sometimes he wonders if he's being rude trying to get Riley to divulge or if Riley even knows that's what he's up to. Sometimes he thinks Riley's vaguely familiar, sometimes he thinks he looks like someone he's seen on TV before, but he can never place it. Riley always watches wistfully when there's a kaiju attack on TV, always has this strange expression when the Jaegers come on screen. There's a look in his eye that's knowing, a mask that spreads on his face every time a Jaeger is felled. It's five years of this and Sam's kind of frustrated with it.

It's five years of working on the wall and suddenly there's an attack in Sydney Australia. The workers are gathered around the TV, already stressed about the loss of three men. They're standing there stunned, watching as this particularly gruesome kaiju rips through the wall, the exact model of the wall they're building right now. Just as someone yells, "Why the hell are we even building this thing?!" Sam murmurs, "That...that thing, went through the wall like it was nothing." Beside him Riley is unreadable, but Sam thinks he looks the tiniest bit unsurprised.

That's when a PPDC helicopter lands right outside. All the men turn, all the men watch as a man who is undoubtedly a Shatterdome Marshal emerges and stands in wait. None of the men know what he wants except one. Riley sighs and moves toward him, and like the Red Sea the men part before him. Sam is confused, so very very confused until he sees Riley and the Marshal conversing not like old friends but old frenemies. It isn't until the men are ordered to disperse and his head is swimming with confusion that he hears the word 'Jaeger' mentioned as the duo passes him, that he realizes Riley must have worked with the Jaeger Program. He couldn't have been a pilot, there's never been a pilot named Riley before, though it would make sense...then again it wouldn't. Why would a Jaeger pilot come here of all places? Even after Rangers stopped piloting there were always jobs open for them, usually in the Shatterdomes. So instead Sam guesses Riley must've been working with a Ranger team, maybe as a part of their crew. Maybe he was part of the control team, Sam doesn't know. It does explain why he stares up at the mangled, moss and rust covered piece of Jaeger that sits off to the side a lot. Maybe he used to work on that Jaeger. Maybe he built it. Maybe he was friends with the pilots.

It's hours later that Sam comes back to the bunks and finds that Riley's meager belongings have been removed. There is no bag on the floor, no clothes on the bed. Every trace of the man who he knew almost nothing about is gone. There's a note though, tapes to the side of the top bunk that is Sam's. It's small, it's on pristine white paper, and it stands out so so sharply against the rugged, rust red walls of the room that Sam automatically assumes it's a from the Marshal, and right he is because at the top of the page (it's hardly a page, more like a large sticky note) it says 'Stacker Pentecost'. Pentecost, that's right, the Marshal's name is Pentecost, he remembers now. All that's written on the page is a phone number. Staring at it, Sam remembers the time he asked Riley if they were friends.

It was three years ago now and they were working on the wall, and Sam was talking again, talking about something or nothing at all he doesn't remember because he already told Riley everything. Riley made a few noncommittal noises, though Sam knew they're not meant to be rude. He knew because Riley told him when Sam had a bad day, he'd been down in the dumps and he snapped when all Riley would ever say was, "Oh," and that's when Riley told him it wasn't because he wasn't interested, it was because he just could never find the words. He thought he heard an 'even after so long' but he's not sure so he never pressed. But that day on the wall, he paused from drilling in a heavy duty bolt and asked, "Hey Riley?"

His coworker paused and looked over at him, the calm look in his eyes curious for once, displaying something more than sadness. "Yeah?"

"Are...are we friends?" Sam queried hesitantly.

It was one of the rare times he saw Riley smile, the day Riley said, "I don't see why not, Sam." It made him happy to think he had a friend here, where everybody was a nobody and everyone was a worn out person desperate enough to work on the last ditch effort. So Sam smiled back and told him it was nice to know that, and they went back to working and never talked about it, content to just be friends. Looking at the phone number, Sam is reminded of that day. He doesn't know why Riley gave it to him, doesn't know what he's supposed to do with the number, so he waits.

He waits for barely a day before he sees the news. It's everywhere, on every station. An old Mark III Jaeger has been restored, put back into service, and its pilots are Raleigh Becket and-

He stops listening then because his head is pounding and there on the screen is a picture of the only friend he ever made on the wall, there is Riley With No Last Name except that's not his name that's Raleigh Becket, that's the Raleigh Becket, the one who piloted Gipsy Danger with Yancy Becket, Yancy Becket who died when Knifehead attacked, that's Raleigh Becket who's one of only two men ever to pilot a Jaeger alone and survive, who piloted Gipsy Danger alone after his brother was ripped out of the Jaeger's head. It seems like he's the only one who recognizes Raleigh as Riley, because everyone else is chattering about how hey, that's the one guy from Alaska, he's back, the Jaeger Program is back, how cool. Everything clicks now. It makes perfect sense. It makes perfect sense, but it's not a happy moment for Sam because he's mad, he's mad that Ril- Raleigh never told him (though he can understand why), mad that he was never able to guess. Sam is sad, sad because Raleigh lost his brother, the one he brushed off because lots of people lost brothers in kaiju attacks. Sam is confused, it feels like his world is shifting, tilting this way and that because suddenly it's not Riley who never talked it's Raleigh, Raleigh the famous Jaeger pilot, how the hell hadn't he noticed?

That's when he knows it's the right moment to call the number, and without a word to anyone, worker supervisor janitor whatever, he turns and hightails it back to his bunk. They haven't found anyone to fill Riley's place yet, so he doesn't feel bad about taking a seat on the empty lower bed. He's breathing heavily, stressed and shaking. He pulls out his cell phone (of course he has one, he's poor and desperate but he manages and plus he needs it) and stares at the dial pad for a full minute before he thinks get it over with Sam, type in the damn number and he does. One after the other he punches in the digits, then double triple quadruple checks to make sure he's got the right one. His hand is still quivering slightly when he pauses again, thumb hovering just above the green 'call' button. The hell's he supposed say to a Jaeger pilot? The hell's a Jaeger pilot gonna say to him? Then he remembers that it's Riley he's calling, Riley even if his name is really Raleigh, and in a moment of determination he taps the button and holds the phone to his ear.

One ring.

Two.

Three- the phone picks up. There's a lot of background noise. "Hello," comes Raleigh's voice, and Sam's shaking again.

"Riley? Er, Raleigh. It's Sam." He coughs. "Sam from the wall."

He's not sure but it feels like there's a smile on the other end, though Raleigh sounds tired. "Oh, hey man." A groan. "I uh, guess you found out, huh? I figured I owed you an explanation, but I was starting to wonder if you'd ever call," he says, and it's the longest Sam's heard him talk without prompting.

"I- you're- you," is all Sam can say, his voice strangled and tight. No no no, this isn't how it's supposed to go. A dry, humorless exhale answers him.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Probably should've told you at some point."

There is silence. He's waiting, Sam realizes, he's waiting for you to say something. "You're a Jaeger pilot," he finally manages, and he feels so stupid because it's the most obvious thing he could possibly say.

This time there's a real laugh, which is cut short. "Sorry Sam, I shouldn't laugh. It's just...I'm sorry. It's been a long week. Honestly, I never thought I'd be telling someone this way."

"I believe you," is the next thing to come out of his mouth, "but I kinda don't," and a moment later there's an 'Accept video chat request?' button on his screen, which he promptly smacks with no small gusto. Raleigh's face shows up on the screen, illuminated by something from the background. He's smiling.

"Check it out," he says, and such excitement fills his voice and grin that Sam can hardly recognize his friend. Just before the camera flips, he notices that Raleigh is wearing short sleeves and there's circuitry shapes scarring tracing his upper arm.

Suddenly there's a gargantuan metal being on his screen, and the camera being angled up to show him its face. "There she is," Raleigh announces proudly, "My Jaeger." He can hardly believe it. It's gray with a blue tint, protective pieces of shielding jutting up from around massive shoulders to protect its golden-masked head. Red streaks down it in tasteful accents, and he spots what looks like it might be a 1940s style pinup on the right side of its chest, which glows with potent radioactivity. Sparks fly from all angles, giving a real sense of scale with how small the workers look. 

"Wow," he whispers, scared to blink. When he comes to his senses he snaps a screenshot as proof. He guesses Raleigh got a notification for that since he laughs. 

"I can send you a better picture later," he offers when the view switches back to the front facing camera and Sam's greeted by a cheery face. Sam nods gratefully.

They keep talking then, and with the way Raleigh's face lights up when he talks about Jaegers and his brother, Sam wonders if that was really where he was meant to be after all. For the first time ever Raleigh is talking more than Sam, who's asking more questions than talking. Neither of them seem to mind though, until Sam dares to breach the subject of his brother. "Why are you specifically there though? Not to be rude, but...five years?"

Raleigh darkens instantly, his smile dropping and his eyes losing their light. "I'm the last Mark III pilot," he says like it's sour, and it's so strange to hear him call himself that (Sam senses it's strange for both of them). "They haven't told me what they need her for-" here he points past the camera, and Sam assumes he means the Jaeger, "-and they haven't told me why they can't just train new recruits, but...I think Gipsy might be rejecting other pilots," This last part is murmured secretively. Sam is incredulous.

"But- Jaegers are just machines. They don't have minds of their own! How could it be rejecting pilots?" Sam splutters out.

Raleigh nods conspiratorially. "That's what most people think, but they're not just machines. They're vessels. They hold the memories that go through the drift too, and remember that not even the scientists who developed the drift fully understand the full extent of it. Y- Yancy and I were the only two to ever pilot Gipsy Danger. Sometimes when we got out after a particularly long drift...we'd hear each other's thoughts. Not all the way, just echoes, but they were definitely there. And it sounds crazy, but I swear sometimes Gipsy would creak or twitch when we got out. Not the metal settling kind of twitch either. Like she was echoing our movements." All of this is said in a rush, quietly too. Sam's a little overwhelmed. If it was anyone else he would have called them crazy, if it was anyone but a Ranger himself he was talking to he'd have brushed it off as when a captain calls a ship female and starts giving it a personality. But he knows the drift is tricky business, anyone with half a brain and Google does, so he kind of halfway believes it. But then again he doesn't, because like everything else today it's kind of crazy, like a dream.

Raleigh sobers and states flatly, "I don't know why they brought me back though. I'm no good without..." His words catch, and he visibly struggles to continue. "Without Yancy." His lip curls minutely, and Sam recognizes that he's feeling pathetic.

"Do you want to talk about him?" He blurts without thinking, and rushes to cover it up. "I mean, ah, five years is a long time to go without telling anyone about him. I'm sure he'd like it if you told someone, so he can be remembered. I think. I don't know. If you'd like," he fumbles, but sighs in relief when a glimmer shines in Raleigh's eyes and he says yes, he'd like that. Sam's not sure if he means him or his brother. He can't ask though, because the call is cut short by someone in the distance. Raleigh hangs up without another word. Sam probably caught him in a rare moment of free time, so he doesn't call back himself. He waits for Raleigh so he's not a bother. As before, he waits a day.

This time he's off shift instead of cutting (it's not like they noticed he was gone, but he nevertheless doesn't want to get caught). 

A notification pops up on his screen during his lunch break the next day. He'd hardly been missed during his impromptu break, but he doesn't want to have to ditch again in case he's reported. Glad that Raleigh decided to text him instead of call, he flicks his phone unlocked and reads the text.

_Sorry about cutting out yesterday. Copilot tryouts._

_So soon? Did they make you pick already?_ He asks quickly.

 _No, I don't get a choice, apparently. There's only one person who I know can definitely drift with me, and the Marshal won't let her, for whatever reason_. This text sounds angry. He'll say something stupid, maybe cheer him up.

_Ooh, a lady friend! Tell me EVERYTHING._

_Shut up. She's like, 7 years younger than me_ , comes the retort.

 _Ooh, going after the young ladies, huh!_ He teases. The response takes longer than usual to get.

_I feel like I'm supposed to be the older brother here, but that was Yance. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even me anymore._

He words his next text carefully _. You guys were connected when he uh...you know, right?_

_That's right. How'd you know? I didn't mention it yesterday._

_I might have Googled you. You're all over the news right now_.

.. _.wow. Okay. Media again. Fun._

_Was it ever?_

_No. Never. Too nosey. I might stop texting in a minute; they want me to suit up soon._

_Suit up? For what, a press conference?_

_No, I wish, almost. Then again I don't. They're really pushing the selection process of my copilot. By suit up I mean get into a drivesuit._

_Are they gonna put you guys in the Jaeger?!_

_Yep. Speaking of, here's that picture I told you I'd send. A picture notification shows up._

_Whoa...just whoa_. It's a massive, high quality picture that must have been taken recently because the Jaeger pictured- just from the chest up- looks virtually the same as yesterday. There's a minute figure perched on its left shoulder, looking straight at the camera in a neutral pose.

_Got a friend to take that yesterday. See that person on her shoulder? That's me._

_Wow! That's amazing, man. Are you excited? Not for the copilot, but to be back in her. I mean, bad memories and all but...sorry._ Sam fumbles when he's texting, just like when he's talking. The usual. Again, there's a pause between texts.

 _No, you're right. I am kind of excited. Yancy and I always had stuff, but Gipsy was the only thing that ever felt like it was really meant for us_.

He wants to reply with something meaningful, feels like he should, but a bell jerks him away from does as much. _Oh man, lunch break is over. I might have ditched yesterday to call you, but I don't want to again._

_Perfect timing, then. They're calling me to get suited up. I'll call you after your shift ends?_

_Sure. Aren't you in China though? That's like, 16 hours ahead isn't it?_ He wonders why Raleigh is being so talkative, so social, but then he remembers- he's got nobody left in the Jaeger Program for him, maybe one or two people but they're busy. He probably never talked because he had a secret to keep.

_It's fine, I'm jetlagged anyway. I'll catch up eventually. Gotta go._

_Good luck._ He hits send and pockets his phone, heading to his shift and leaving the response unnoticed.

_Thanks, Sam._


End file.
